Sunland Park extortion case defendant agrees to plea deal

Martah Alondra Lozano nets one-year probation

Las Cruces >> A 27-year-old woman accused of hiding likely evidence in an extortion case from authorities as they raided the Sunland Park City Hall last year pleaded "no contest" Monday to two felony charges.

Martah Alondra Lozano, a former temporary human resources employee for the city, entered the plea in 3rd Judicial District Court as part of a plea deal with prosecutors.

Under the arrangement, Lozano, who has moved to San Antonio, Texas, will be under one year of unsupervised probation. In exchange, she'll be called upon to testify truthfully in related public corruption cases involving former Sunland Park officials and employees.

Lozano had faced up to a three-year prison sentence and up to a $10,000 fine.

Lozano's attorney, Gerard Montrose of Santa Teresa, told state Judge Darren Kugler that his client was ready to move on.

"She's trying to put her life back on track after being involved with the situation," he said.

Lozano declined to comment when leaving the courtroom.

Senior trial prosecutor Jose Arguello told the judge that state police were executing a search warrant at city hall on Feb. 21, 2012, when they saw Lozano talking on a cell phone, enter an office and then leave the building. When officers checked the room, they found several computer cables and cords were left in disarray.

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"She admitted to having been on a cell phone with another co-defendant, Mr. Daniel Salinas," Arguello said.

Salinas is a former city councilor and former city mayoral candidate who was alleged to have orchestrated an extortion attempt against another former mayoral candidate, Gerardo Hernandez, leading up to the city's once-every-two-year election in March 2012. An unidentified man approached Hernandez in the parking lot of city hall and threatened that if he didn't drop out of the race, a video clip of him with a lap dancer would be released. The unidentified man showed Hernandez a photo from the video.

Hernandez reported the threat to police. That prompted the Feb. 21, 2012, raid of city hall, which resulted in Lozano's charges of tampering with evidence and conspiring to tamper with evidence, both fourth-degree felonies.

Authorities believe the two computers Lozano left the building with that day contained extortion video footage. Authorities believe she stashed them, and Salinas later retrieved them. Salinas later reported to police that the laptops were stolen days later during a visit to Juárez.

Hernandez visited the district courthouse Monday and said he was pleased with the outcome of Lozano's case.

"I think the case is on a good path," he said. "I think it's going the right way."

A "no contest" plea means Lozano didn't admit guilt but acknowledged that if the case were to go to trial, she'd likely be convicted.

Cases for a number of Sunland Park defendants, including Salinas, remain pending in court. Some have been resolved.